Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and actor, known for attracting controversy after releasing the poster of the film ‘Kaali’, which depicts a woman as the goddess Kali, smoking a cigarette. Has been and is hosting the pride flag.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Leena Manimekalai was born on Saturday, 7 June 1980 (age 42 years; as in 2022) in Srivilliputtur, Tamil Nadu. His zodiac sign is Gemini. She studied at Holy Cross Convent School, Madurai. He earned a BE degree in Instrumentation and Control Engineering from Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Production from York University, Canada.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 5″
Weight (Approx): 55 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Picture Measurements (Approx): 36-26-36
Family
parents and siblings
Leena’s father’s name was Iragupathi, who was a college professor. He died when Lena was in her second year of college.
Leena Manimekalai as a teenager with her father
His mother’s name is Rama.
Leena Manimekalai with her mother
He has a brother, Elango Raghupathi, who is a film producer.
Husband
Her husband’s name is not known. she is divorced.
sexual orientation
Lena considers herself bisexual.
I came out as bisexual in my second poetry book “Ulagin Azhagiya Muthal Pen” in 2007. Hindumakkalkaichi filed police cases to get the ban imposed. Ultra left GPS like Vinavu wrote hate articles. In 2013, Tamil’s first gay poetry book “Antharakanni” was published. Happy #Pride2021 pic.twitter.com/eqjeOUfPO9
– Leena Manimekkali (@LeenaManimekkali) 2 June 2021
religious viewpoint
According to his Facebook account, he is an atheist.
Caste
Leena belongs to Shudra caste.
@mamallanI am a born Shudra who believes in the annihilation of caste and I have not hidden these facts or information about my background anywhere!
– Leena Manimekkali (@LeenaManimekkali) 8 June 2014
livelihood
director
Leena made her debut in the 2003 Tamil short film Maathamma.
An excerpt from Leena Manimekalai’s film ‘Mathamma’ (2003)
He has directed other short films including Break the Shackles (2004), Love Lost (2004), Waves After Waves (2006), Is It Too Much to Ask (2017), and Maadathi (2021).
Poster of the film ‘Is It Too Much to Ask’ (2017)
actor
Lena debuted in the Tamil film Chellamma (2004) and played the role of a hero.
Poster of the film Chellamma (2004)
She has appeared as an actor in other films, including The White Cat (2004), Love Lost (2005), and Sengadal (The Dead Sea) (2011).
Poster of the film ‘Sengadal’
Poet
She has written poems which include As a Lone Leaf (2003), The First Beautiful Woman in the World (2009), Queen of Sluts (2011), Antarakanni (2012), and Chichili (2016). He reveals his sexual preferences in the second poem, The First Beautiful Woman in the World. The poem he wrote, Antarakanni, became the first gay poetry book in Tamil.
Leena Manimekalai is supporting the gay community
controversies
Leena’s sexual harassment incident:
In 2018, Leena became embroiled in controversy when she spoke openly about the sexual harassment she faced. In 2018, she took to Facebook and accused director Susi Ganesan of harassing her. Responding to his statement, Susi said,
I shudder at your baseless allegations. I have evidence to prove that your character is flawed. I did not give you a chance to work with me, that is why you have made these allegations.
Hurting Hindu religious sentiments:
In 2022, Lena came into controversy when she posted the poster of the film ‘Kaali’ on her Facebook account. Delhi Police filed an FIR against Devi after a lawyer complained about the controversial poster of her documentary film ‘Kaali’, which showed Devi smoking a cigarette. Police officers talking about the complaint in an interview said,
The complainant attached a purported photograph of Goddess Kali smoking a cigarette, which was posted by a verified Twitter handle of Leena Manimekalai. Prima facie, the material appears to promote enmity and be prejudicial to maintaining harmony between different groups on the basis of religion and race, which is likely to disturb public peace.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- 2004: Director’s Chair Chicago Women in International Film Festival
- 2004: Silver Trophy for Best Documentary at the Europe Movies Film Festival
- 2005: Best Actor and Best Experimental Video at the Independent Art Film Festival
- 2005: Best Documentary at the Paris and Norway Independent Diaspora Festivals
- 2005: European Union Fellowship for Conflict Resolution in Media
- 2005: Retrospective, International Democratic Socialist Youth Film Festival, Venezuela
- 2006: International Jury at the Asian Film Festival, Malaysia
- 2007: Jury Prize for Best Cinema of Resistance
- 2008: Golden Conch for Best International Documentary at the Mumbai International Film Festival
- 2008: Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Berlinale
- 2008: One Billion Eyes National Award – Best Documentary
- 2008: Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Scheme, Bird’s Eye View Film Festival, London
- 2008: Iyal Best Poetry Award from Tamil Literary Garden for Ulakin Azakiya Muthal Pen
- 2011: Sirpi Sahitya Award for contribution to Tamil poetry
- 2011: Indian Panorama selection for Sengadal
- 2011: NAWFF Award for Best Asian Women’s Cinema (Tokyo) for the film Sengadal
- 2013: Lenin Award from Thamizh Studio
- 2014: Srishti Tamil Lambda Literary Award for her book Antarakanni
- 2015: L’Oréal Paris Femina Women’s Award
- 2020: AIFF Award for the film Maidathi, An Unfairy Tale (2019)
Facts/General Knowledge
- His friends and family members fondly call him Karuvachi.
- Leena follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- According to her Facebook account, she follows post-political ideology.
- In her childhood, she used to watch film screenings in the village with her father.
Leena Manimekalai with her father in childhood
- According to him, there was a custom in his village to marry the daughter to her maternal uncle as soon as she turns eighteen. Leena’s family also decided the same and when she turned eighteen they arranged her marriage to her maternal uncle.
- In an interview, she had said that she did not want to marry her uncle and for this she started getting good marks in classes, even when she did not feel like studying. She did this so that she could facilitate her parents to let her study further and not get her married, but her parents did not change their mind and fixed her marriage with her uncle.
- After hearing their decision, Leena ran away from her village to Chennai, where she started looking for a job. She went to the office of a Tamil magazine in Chennai for an interview, who called her family and handed her over to them. After reaching home, she told her family that she wanted to study engineering and did not want to marry her uncle. In his third year of college, he assisted director Bharathiraja and learned about films from him.
Leena Manimekalai in her teenage years
- While she was working with director Bharathiraja, the media started reporting about her affair with a married actor. This rumor affected his family, after which they asked him to return home. Talking about this in an interview, he said,
My mother sat on hunger strike. I initially refused to give up, but his health deteriorated and I had to leave cinema and Bharathiraja.
- Leena went back home and started working in an IT firm. According to her, she changed eleven jobs in two years because she always wanted to direct films and not work in an IT firm.
- In 2002, he started earning money through freelancing and spent that money on directing his own films, which received international acclaim.
Leena Manimekalai during the shooting of a film
- In 2017, he decided to make an independent film on Kamala Das. In an interview, she said that producer Kamal had promised to include her in the English version of the film, but he did not make the film because Vidya Balan had opted out of the Malayalam version of the film. He talked about this in an interview and said,
Kamal is a senior filmmaker and he may have his reasons. But what was troubling me was that even after discussing the script and other details, he could not make his point. So I have decided to go ahead and direct an independent film on Kamala Das. I would like to focus on the film which I left three years ago. Only a free expression can put the soul of a poet above the interests of the market.”
- In 2018, after filing a harassment case against Director Susi, the High Court had snatched her passport. Talking about this in an interview, he said,
I am not aware on what basis the police has provided the adverse police verification report. If accurate details are provided, I will be in a better position to give a suitable answer to this.
- According to him, he did not cast any actor in his films because he was afraid of working on the subject he worked on.
- He said that he had directed the film Senagadal (Dead Sea) on fishermen caught on the Sri Lankan border. In an interview, he talked about why he directed the film and said,
Since I come from a political family of communists, I was directly and indirectly associated with the Sri Lankan crisis during my youth. “I was part of the group that was involved in the anti-war movement and India’s stance in the war.”
Poster of the film ‘Sengadal’
- In 2022, the poster of his film ‘Kaali’ became controversial. Amidst this controversy, a priest threatened Leena that if her film ‘Kali’ was released, he would cut off her head.
Poster of the movie ‘Kali’
- She loved doing Bharatanatyam when she was in school.
Leena practicing Bharatanatyam at Manimekalai School
- She is often featured in various newspapers.
Leena Manimekalai appeared in a newspaper
- She is often seen smoking cigarettes on many occasions.
Like smoke, like tray, like colours, like rings, like dust, like day, like life! pic.twitter.com/zMs51kUjON
– Leena Manimekkali (@LeenaManimekkali) 9 May 2014
- She is a passionate animal lover and often posts their pictures on social media.
Leena Manimekalai playing with goats
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn